Ampoule.



A, C. HIGGINS.

AMPOULE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 27. 1915.

Patented Jan. 4, 1916.

Inventor: W c 3 K W MAL. -35 -4 y Attj s;

mmnpmummh ITEnsT 'rEs PATENT OFFICE.

C. HIGGINS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOB TO H. K. IULF ORDCOMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A COBPQBATION or PENNSYLVANIA.

' Application flcdl'climary 27,1915, Serial No. 19,939.

I To all whom may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR C.. HIGGINS, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Ampoules, of p .whichthe following is a specification, reference being hadto the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part hereof.

It has been proposed in this country and abroad to put up singleapplications of a medication in small glass containers or capsules whichare frangible to permit the es cape of the medication and which areinclosed, either partially or wholly, by an absorbent material which,when saturated, serves as a convenient swab for the application. Suchcontainers or ampoules, while satisfying a widespread demand for suchsingleapplications, are not, as now con-' structed, entirelysatisfactory, because the covering of absorbent material is entirelyexposed and permits the medication to be exposed to the hand of the userthroughout a large area and also results in the waste of a substantialpart of the liquid through its absorption by the covering. Again, thebulk of the swab precludes its introduction into small wounds andconversely, always results in the application of the medication over amuch greater area than is desired. Further, the covering of absorbentmaterial, now generally used, is,reta-ined in position on the ampoule bymeans of a mesh bag, usually of silk, which is rather expensive andoflers' no protection to the fingers against laceration by thesplintered glass.

By means of'the present invention, it is sought to overcome all of theob1ect1ons enumerated above and to provide an am- .poule which shall bemore inexpensive than those now known and which shall have a coveringabout the frangible portion thereof of an imperforate-material, such as.rubber, in which a relatively small swab of absorbent material can beincased.

In accordance with the invention, the am- "poule is formed with anattenuated frangible neck on which isslipped in yielding engagement atubular band or cap of rubber or Specification of Letters Patent.

othersuitable material, one end of which rests snugly against theshoulder of the ampoule and the other end of which is open to receive aswab of absorbent material which lies over the frangible portion of thecon: tamer and presents an exposed tip by which the medication may beapplied. The rubber band is preferably of a distinctive form interiorlyso as to form a retainer for the swab.

Other objects of'the invention and other advantages incidental to theuse of the improved container will appear more particularlyhereinafter,.wherein is given a detailed description of the inventionwith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is aview in elevation of a container provided with the improved devices forapplying the liquid and directing its flow, these devices beingshown invertical .section. Fig. 2 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 1

but showing a somewhat modified form of container.

It will be evident as this description proceeds that the invention isnot to be limited to any particular form of container, but thus 7 tip awhich may be broken readily to admit atmospheric pressure to thecontainer and thereby facllitate the flow of the medication from thecontainer as will appear more partlcularly hereinafter.

It will be observed that the attenuated neck a is drawn down into afrangible portion indicated roughly .absorbent material I) and holds itin place '25 shown in Fig. 1 and has. applied thereto the I around thefrangible neck a'and this retaining action of the rubber band may beenhanced by forming the band interiorly of concaveoutline along'itslongitudinal axis,

an indicated at c. If desired, the neck a vof the container 41 may beformed with a bulge a which will lie within the band at about itsmidpoint so that the material I) beyond the bulge'a will be wedged moretightly against the neck a, by the converging wall of the band. Bythissimple construction, there is very little chance of the material 6 beingaccidentally displaced or. lost from the container. The inner end of the'bandc embraces snugly the neck a and rests on the shoulder a of theampoule so as to prevent the escape of the medication at this end'of theband. The opposite end of the band V0 is open and the'absorbent material6 extends through its open end and presents .anexposed surface I) whichwill serve as a convenient swab for applying the medication.

The ampoule Ashown in Fig. 2 has its neck A of thesame construction asthat absorbent material B and the rubberband C, all as previouslydescribed, the only difference between the container shown in thisfigure and thatshown in Fig. 1 residing in the provision of'a fiatbottom A for this container and the omission of the tip a shown inFig. 1. Different conditions of'use will determine whether one form orthe other of these containers will be employed.

In use, the medication in both of the illustrated ampoules will beapplied in the same way, except that the tip (1 shown in Fig. 1

,1 .will' be brokenbefore using this container.

In each instance, the frangible neck of, A, is broken at some point,such as a A by pressure of the fingers against the rubber and 0,-C. Assoon as the neck a, A is thus broken the liquid in the container flowsout and is absorbed by the material I), 13 until the exposed swab b, Bis saturated. During the passage -of the liquid fromthe container to theswabbing surface, it is directed in its flow outward by the band 0, C,and is prevented from escaping at any point except at the end of theswab, by the imperforate character of the band and its intimate unionwith the shoulder a A of the container.

- At the time of breaking thefrangible neck it will be evident that thefingers are protected against injury by the splintered glass, by thetough hand e, (Land after the material I), B, is saturated, the fin ersare prevented from coming in contact w th the medication, so that anabsolutely aseptic application is assured anddi oloration of the fin ersor other undesire' action of the mecication thereon is prevented. Theconcentration of theliquid atthe end of the swab b, B

makes it possible to apply the medication at any desired-point and overa very small area, so that waste is prevented. Again, by form ing' theswab with a relatively small exposed surface, it ispossible to introduceit into small cavities or wounds and efie'ct such an application as isimpossible with the relatively bulky coverings .nowgenerally em-- ployedin connection with containers. Not only does the band 0, C, perform itsstated functions during the application of the liquid but it serves as aprotective covering for the frangible neck a, A, during shipment andhandling of the ampoule.

Other means for attaining the same general objects as herein appearwillsuggest themselves to those skilled in the art, but meremodifications in the matter of the size, shape and relationship of partsare to. be deemed within the spirit of this invention provided they fallwithin the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention: 1. The combination of an ampoule having afrangible portion, absorbent material lying thereover, and animperforate casing for the absorbent material embracing the material andcompressing the same and having an opening through which the materialprotrudes. i

2. The combination of an ampoule having a frangible neck, absorbentmaterial lying thereover, and an open ended tubular casing ofimperforate material disposed directly around and embracing theabsorbent ma-.

terial and the neck and carried by the ampohle. r

3. The combination of an ampoule having an attenuated frangible neck,absorbent material covering the neck and extending beyond the end of thesame asa substantially cylindrical swab. and a tubular band ofimperforate material fitting snugly over the.

absorbent material and embracing the same and the neck and having oneedge resting on the shoulder of the ampoule. the cylindrical portion ofabsorbentmaterial protruding'beyond the other end of the band.

4. The combination of. an ampoule-havbeyond the end of the neck as asubstantially cylindrical. swab, a rubber tubular band taperedinteriorly to embrace and grip yieldingly the absorbent material and thebulge and resting at one end against the shoulder This specificationsigned and witnessed of ]the ampoule, the cylingrical iswab 3f all: this24th day of February, A. D. 1915. sor e'nt material protru ing eyon t eother end of the band, and a frangible tip v ARTHUR HIGGINS 5 formed inthe ampoule to admit atmospheric Signed in the presence of pressureduring application of the medica- G. JONES, tion. U W. H. QUILLMAN,

